Barber bidding to trim best of Britain down to size

By Ryan Bangs, Sportsbeat

TOM Barber believes a wind of change is about to sweep through Archery GB ahead of this weekend's British trials for the European Championships.

The 18-year-old will be one of a handful of Brits at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre bidding for a place on the plane to Rovereto in Italy next month.

Barber will have more on his plate than most, having had to combine studying for his A-levels at Bungay High School with his shooting.

But after spending his Easter break on a training camp, with the best archers France has to offer,  Barber has vowed to knock Olympians Simon Terry and Alan Wills off their perch.

"The selection trials are probably one of the toughest forms of competition we do," said Barber. "I think this time around there are eight of us and we are all capable of getting a place.

"Tensions can run high and I think everyone would agree that it is tough. We are all training together quite a lot and there is healthy competition to get those three places on the team.

"For me I am not at the top of the tree yet, but with there being so many guys at the moment there is a real motivation and spur to do well.

"You want to do well and I have worked on the areas I think need working on. I want to improve and keep coming back stronger than before.

"I am still in a phase of development, but I am confident. I have made a lot of improvements this year training wise and I certainly feel that there is going to be a change in the wind."

Should Barber make the British team at the weekend he will travel to Croatia for the opening leg of the World Cup series in preparation for the European Championships.

Barber - who won European Junior Championship silver in 2007 - is no stranger to the World Cup circuit and is adamant he can make an impact provided he gets on the British team.

"There are about four major events a year with World Cups and then the major championships and I have been to about five World Cups in my career so far," he added.

"Generally everything has been going alright - it has been a long process since January onwards. I have had to balance my schoolwork and there hasn't been a great deal of opportunities.

"But I did reasonably well at the World Cup in Croatia last year. I came 14th against quite a high class field and I was happy with that. My world ranking is continuing to go up and I am slowly making that transition to senior competition."

Visa is proud to be Presenting Partner of Team 2012, a team of 1,200 athletes across the UK who are aiming to compete at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information go to www.lifeflowsbetter.com